


Knowing

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Blink is dead, Canon Era, M/M, Post canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:05:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: It’s been seven years since the strike, but old ties remain as important as ever.  David and Mush learn something about each other.





	Knowing

“Used to wish I could go and marry Blink,” Mush said. He and David were sitting together against the wall of David’s roof, Mush ragged and grimy from a hard day’s work, and David in a tie and a pale blue button up shirt that was pristine except for a few places around the shoulder and right arm where Mush had touched him. David’s throat tightened a little at the mention of Blink, and he kept his eyes fixed on the plumes of smoke from Mush’s cigarette as they wafted upwards. When he looked over at Mush, his friend was doing the same thing, or maybe just staring at the sky.

They were both still for the longest time, until all at once Mush shook his head, and stubbed the cigarette against the ground, snapping back into animation. 

“Would’ve been easier, you know, than trying to make a family with some girl I ain’t even met yet.” 

“Want me to tell Sarah to stop trying to introduce you to her friends?” David offered. It wasn’t the question he really wanted to ask, but he guessed it was at least a relevant one.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind meeting new folks. Been pretty lonely since the accident. Sarah’s got nice friends.” Mush grinned too brightly, and bumped shoulders with David, like he was trying to get him to smile too. David tried, even though it wasn’t easy. Mush had been coming over a lot lately, and Blink was a frequent subject of conversation. Mush said that telling old stories and talking about old times made him feel better, like that stuff wasn’t so far away. It made David feel as though their lives were like the spools of thread in Sarah’s sewing basket, unraveling at their various length until they reached their inevitable ends. 

Blinks thread had been cut short months ago. Mush called it an “accident”. It had been a bar brawl. The only accidental thing about it had been that Blink hadn’t meant to get himself killed. David cleared his throat, and tried to clear his mind as well.

“Sarah says her friends like that you’ve held down the same job for a couple of years,” David said, just to make sure that Mush was clear on why Sarah kept introducing him to people. He leaned back into the wall in an attempt to look casual, but the motions came out stiff.

“Yeah,” Mush said. “Don’t know that I’d be much of a husband.”

“I know!” David said. Mush sat up quickly, like a jolt had gone through him, and cocked his head like he didn’t quite understand what David had just said. David wasn’t even surprised. He seemed to do that to people a lot. His face felt warmer, anyway, and he knew that his ears were probably turning red. 

“I didn’t mean that you’d make a bad husband,” David hastened to explain.

“Yeah,” said Mush, already relaxing again. “I know that, Davey. So, what didja mean anyways?” 

“Nothing,” David said. He’d made a rule, a while back, that he wouldn’t talk too much about himself and his own problems around Mush, and Jack, and the other guys that he still saw sometimes. David didn’t have any problems, comparatively. He had a place to live, his family was intact, and his job at the publishing company was at least as comfortable as it was uninspiring. If he worked hard, his father would be able to retire in a couple of years. He was okay. 

“I know what you meant about wishing you could just be with Blink,” David said rapidly anyway, in spite of all his misgivings. 

“You liked Blink?” Mush asked. 

“Well, no, I…” David started, wondering why such simple words should make his heart pound the way they did. 

“Oh…” Mush said. For a second he looked sympathetic as the realization of who David was talking about dawned on him. David looked quickly down at his knees, but not before he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of the grin that was spreading across Mush’s face. 

“Hey,” Mush gave David a playful shove that was enough to knock him off balance. “Hey Davey, we’se pals, ain’t we?” 

“Yeah,” David agreed, finding that he was starting to smile as well. “We’re pals.”

David and Mush didn’t say anything much after that, but David couldn’t shake the feeling that things were just a little better than they’d been an hour before. None of the bad things that had happened in the past had changed, and David doubted they’d altered their futures any either, but they each knew something about the other now, and that was worth a lot.


End file.
